Enslaved
by Ohfortheloveofpete
Summary: An unfortunate teenage mermaid ends up being enslaved by a widower that wants her to do his chores for him. Also, she gets to meet his dimwitted (yet friendly) son.
1. Chapter 1: A New Life

Enslaved

_In this story, we're going to see a mermaid get enslaved! Oh dear...but not to worry, it's not going to be depressing. It's actually going to be rather...comedic._

_Yes, I'm trying to make One Piece slavery funny...just a random idea that popped out of my head one day._

_It's not going to be entirely comedic though...it's also a Friendship fanfic! You like friendship, right?_

**Chapter 1: A New Life**

Pearl let out a sigh as she was brought out to the auction hall. Several bidders were rather excited to see a female mermaid for sale. An attractive female mermaid no less.

Pearl in question had a sky blue tail, and had blonde, wavy (yes, pun intended) hair that went halfway across her back.

Unfortunately, her friends had decided to dare her to touch a marine ship...she had touched it and had immediately been caught by marine divers.

Apparently, it wasn't the smartest dare in the world. In fact, it appeared to have been the worst mistake of her life.

"Let's make belly off of her!" they had said. "There goes my freedom." she had thought.

How she wished that she and her kin weren't so valuable to humans.

Oddly enough, despite trying to remove pirates from the world, they didn't seem to care about slavery. In fact, they openly encouraged it.

"The hypocrites." thought Pearl. She was starting to see why so many people were turning to piracy these days. Why, the week before she had been caught by the marines, she had met a pirate boy that could stretch out his body like rubber.

Personally, she wished that she could do things like that. She could show off to her friends.

Then again, by the looks of things, she was going to have to eat devil's fruit if she wanted to pull that off...and since that would make her unable to swim, that probably wasn't such a good idea.

"I'd be a fish out of water and a mammal out of land." thought Pearl.

It was a shame that devil fruits suffered from a drawback like that. They would be a lot more useful otherwise.

"I wonder whose going to buy me?" inquired the mermaid. It could be anyone, really. There were a lot of people looking to have her as a trophy.

Sure enough, there were a bunch of unfriendly-looking fellows in the crowd, including human and fishmen. One of them even happened to be a giant, and a few of them happened to be dwarves.

She got the feeling that regardless of who she ended up with, she wasn't going to like them. None of them seemed to be very friendly.

"I guess I'm going to have to prepare for the worst." spoke the mermaid.

Oddly enough, she had been dressed in a prison uniform...she was wearing a white shirt with black sprites.

Apparently, they really wanted her to know what was coming...not that she already knew.

Sure enough, the auctioneer stepped on stage. Personally, Pearl could not understand how he could be so jovial considering the circumstances. Was he secretly some sort of demon from Davy Jones' Locker?

He was dressed in a top hat and was wearing a purple uniform and a tie.

Already, she was starting to hate him.

"Welcome to another auction at the Human Auctioning House! I'm the auctioneer, Fredrick Van Hower!" exclaimed Fredrick.

"Hey there, Fredrick. Nice to meet you! Not!" bellowed Pearl.

"How dare you!" bellowed the auctioneer.

Fredrick whacked her on the head with his hammer for insulting him.

"Ow." said the mermaid, rubbing her head.

"Now then, where were we? Ah yes! Who would like to bid first!" exclaimed Fred.

One of the fishmen bid one million belly.

"Why is their currency called belly? Do they put it in their mouths?" inquired Pearl.

Another fishmen bid two million belly.

"Speaking of which, my stomach is starting to rumble..." noted the mermaid.

A human bid five million belly.

"Look at those numbers go." said Pearl.

A dwarf bid ten million belly.

"More and more belly..." spoke the teenage girl. Now she was really starting to get hungry.

A giant bid fifty million belly.

"Wow...giants have giant loads of cash." acknowledged the merfolk girl. Why didn't that surprise her?

Go figure.

Suddenly, she noticed that a rather obese man was in the crowd as well as his fourteen-year old son.

The obese man in question was named Lassell Scallop. Unlike most of the other slave buyers, he wasn't really evil...but he was very lazy and somewhat lecherous. He had red hair and was very fat, with his belly emerging from his sleeveless white shirt and blue jeans.

Due to the fact that his wife had died, he wanted something to fill the hole in his life...and it looked like Pearl was going to be it. He had just bid a hundred million dollar belly...and nobody else wanted to compete with that.

His son on the other hand was the very epitome of purity. However, he was a very dim individual, despite being fourteen years old. He was dressed in a green shirt and black pants, and had red hair.

His name was Oyster Scallop.

"What a coincidence...I happen to be fifteen." acknowledged Pearl. It appeared that they were both about the same age.

"Going once, going twice, sold to Lassell Scallop!" exclaimed the auctioneer.

Immediately, the slaveholders handed the mermaid to the man.

She let out a sigh.

"Off to the world of slavery I go." spoke Pearl.

Oyster put his hand on Pearl's right shoulder to comfort her. Apparently, he was trying to show her sympathy.

"Huh? Thanks." said the mermaid. At least his son appeared to be a better person than his father.

As a security precaution, the slaveholders put a slave collar on her waist, right below her belly button.

"Shouldn't this go around my neck?" inquired the teenage girl. She thought that was how slavery was supposed to work.

"We ran out of collars for the small merfolk...now all we have left now is the collars for big ones." answered one of the slave sellers.

"I see..." spoke Pearl.

"There! Now if you try to run away from me I'll just use this radar so I can find you!" exclaimed Lassell Scallop.

Immediately, he pulled out what appeared to be a GPS device. Pearl appeared to be a sky blue dot on the map.

It looked like she had nowhere to hide. No matter where she went inside his house, he would be able to find her.

However, Pearl asked him a very important question.

"How can I run away from you? I don't have legs. I'm only human above the waist." explained the mermaid, pointing out her tail fins.

Lassell Scallop sweatdropped. How exactly could he have forgotten about that?

"Funny...I was expecting this to be explosive..." questioned Pearl. Oddly enough, it didn't seem dangerous to her at all.

Her slavedriver explained his reasoning for not using one.

"I can't have an explosive collar! It will blow up my house! And I don't want to have to clean up your ashes! It's disgusting!" exclaimed Lassell.

"OK..." answered the mermaid. It was good to see that this particular slavedriver had standards.

Afterwards, one of the slave sellers asked if he wanted Pearl to be dressed to his liking.

He immediately noticed, and told the slave sellers what he wanted her to look like.

"What is he saying to them?" questioned the mermaid. She wasn't quite sure.

The slave sellers took Pearl to a nearby dressing room and began to change her clothes. She came out wearing a strapless sky blue bikini.

"This is so embarrassing..." spoke the mermaid as she began to blush. Personally she was hoping that she wouldn't have to wear such a revealing outfit.

Lassell Scallop began to drool.

"I think you look beautiful!" exclaimed Oyster Scallop.

"Well, that's rather comforting. I don't like the way your father is staring at me though." answered Pearl.

She in fact had several admirers back at the ocean. Some of them even wanted to get her autograph.

It was a bit of a pain being so popular. In fact, being popular was what had gotten her in this mess. She simply couldn't resist a dare...even a dare as dangerous to mermaids as touching a marine ship.

For some strange reason, humans only seemed to stare at her torso rather than her tail. She wasn't quite sure why.

She still got the feeling that being a slave wasn't going to be fun, even with Oyster around to give her comfort.

Then again, he did seem to be rather sweet, even if he was rather unintelligent. Was he secretly an angel from the heavens?

It was a logical guess as any. Maybe he got kicked out due to low intelligence? He probably wouldn't fit in too well with them.

Lassell Scallop went to his car, which he had of course parked right outside the Human Auction House. Oyster Scallop picked up Pearl and buckled her to one of the back seats so that she could be safe.

He then buckled his seat and sat down next to her. Apparently, he was as attracted to her as his father was...

"I've never used one of these before." noted Pearl. Of course, why would she ever use one up until now? Cars were for land transportation and she was a sea creature.

"This is going to be so much fun! We're going to be best friends in the world!" cheered the teenage boy.

Immediately, he wrapped his arm around the left side of Pearl's neck and held her closer to him.

"Yeah...we're going to be best friends." answered the mermaid nervously.

Unfortunately, as she quickly discovered, the doors were childproof and she couldn't simply jump out of the vehicle.

Besides, she would risk getting herself killed...and she didn't want to die. At least, not yet.

Immediately, Lassell Scallop drove to his house, which looked to be fairly rundown. Oddly enough, it happened to be near a ocean.

"Well, at least I can look at that for comfort." said Pearl.

He then stepped out of the vehicle, picked up Pearl and Oyster (the latter of which had fallen asleep, as it was now nighttime), and took them to his son's room.

Sure enough, there was a bed (which apparently belonged to Oyster), as well as a hammock.

Lassell immediately pointed to the hammock. Oddly enough, it happened to be sky blue, much like the bikini she was currently wearing and her tail.

"Is this where I'm going to sleep tonight?" inquired Pearl curiously.

"Yes." answered Oyster's father.

"Funny, I was under the impression that I was going to have to sleep in a straw bed or something." said the mermaid, recalling the various merfolk that had been enslaved before her.

"Nah..." spoke Lassell Scallop. Apparently, he didn't have that kind of straw to go around, nor would he want to.

King Neptune did warn her (along with the rest of her race during a meeting) that there were humans out there that would try to make belly off of them and would keep them as trophies...maybe she should have listened to him a bit harder.

Then again, most of the mermaids thought that they were just rumors meant to scare young merfolk.

"How I wish that were true..." thought Pearl.

Shrugging, Pearl decided not to look a gift seahorse in the mouth. That hammock actually looked rather nice.

Immediately, she decided to lie down in it and see if it would make a decent bed...which it surprisingly did.

"Well, this is fairly comfortable...at least I won't wake up sleep-deprived..." answered the mermaid.

"Isn't this awesome?! We get to be roommates!" exclaimed Oyster.

"Yeah...I guess we do." nodded Pearl.

Immediately, he turned off the lights so that they could both go to sleep.

She let out a sigh. At least tonight wasn't going to be so bad. She didn't have any chores to do for the time being, though that would likely change in the near future. She was a slave mermaid now, wasn't she?

"Maybe I can try to escape now?" inquired the mermaid. Now seemed as good of a time as any. Lassell Challop wasn't currently keeping an eye on her, after all.

However, she then remembered that she had a problem...she now had a slave collar around her waist.

Was it true? Would he really be able to hunt her down if she tried escaping him? If so, there was no way out.

Granted, it was preferrable to being blown to bits by an explosive slave collar...but she wasn't looking forward to getting caught nonetheless.

It looked like she was stuck being a slave. There was no way for her to escape from her slavedriver for the time being.

"Well, I bet my friends are going to miss me." noted Pearl. Personally she was wondering how they were doing in her absence. Were their hearts breaking as she spoke?

On the other hand, they were the ones that dared her to touch a Marine ship in the first place.

She vowed that if she ever got out of this, she would never do something like this again.

Curious, she noticed that there appeared to be a key slot on the collar.

"Maybe the father has it?" inquired Pearl.

Then again, he probably had it heavily guarded.

"Something tells me that it isn't going to be so simple." thought the mermaid.

For all she knew, it was guarded by high security lasers that would fry everything they touched.

Then again, considering that he had declined the explosive slave collar, he may not resort to such gruesome methods.

"At least he seems to be a better person than those other slaveholders." thought Pearl.

Shrugging, she decided to go to bed. Hopefully she would be able to think up an escape plan by tomorrow.

Then again, she hadn't heard of any mermaid that had escaped from the slavedriver's clutches...except for that mermaid with green hair.

Apparently, she was the exception.

"Zzz..." murmured Pearl.

_Well, things don't seem to be going well for Pearl so far. Don't accept crazy dares from your friends, kids...they're more trouble than they're worth._

_In the next chapter, Lassell Scallop is going to make Pearl wash the dishes and the like...and no, he's not going to use a whip. He's too lazy for that...and he has standards._

_Oh, and she's going to befriend his dimwitted son...that's why this is a friendship story. Heh heh._


	2. Chapter 2: The Feather Of Retribution

Enslaved

_In this chapter, Lachell is going to make Pearl do some household chores...but thankfully his son is going to help her._

_Isn't that nice of him?_

**Chapter 2: The Feather Of Retribution**

Pearl woke up, at this point deciding to accept what labor her slavedriver had given for her.

Curious, she noticed that Oyster was still sleeping.

Shrugging, she decided to try fiddling with her GPS belt to see if she could remove it.

Unfortunately, she could not. It looked like it was stuck on her waist.

"Darn it! This belt is making me look like a man!" exclaimed Pearl.

At that very moment, Oyster woke up.

"Hey there..." said the mermaid.

"Hi!" exclaimed the teenage boy.

Immediately, she began to wonder how she was going to get it off.

"There's got to be a way out of this...maybe I could try going on a diet?" questioned Pearl. Maybe that way she could slip the GPS belt off of her.

"Why do you want to go on a diet?" inquired Oyster.

"Um, I'm getting fat?" asked Pearl.

"You're not getting fat! You look pretty!" exclaimed the teenage boy.

She began to blush.

"Your name is..."

"Oyster! What's yours?" asked Oyster.

"It's Pearl." answered the mermaid.

"Yay! Pleased to meet you!" exclaimed the teenage boy.

"Pleased to meet you too." nodded Pearl.

At that very moment, Oyster's father came into the room holding onto a list.

"Hey there." said Pearl.

Immediately, Lachell handed her a list.

"So...this is what I need to do today?" inquired the mermaid.

He nodded.

"Let's see...I need to get the mail...I need to wash the dishes...I need to mow the lawn...I need to mop the floor...and I need to wipe the windows...is that right?" asked Pearl.

"Yes. You heard me correctly." answered Lachell.

"That's it? I was under the impression that you were going to make me build a pyramid or something out in a hot desert sun." spoke the mermaid.

"Why would I do that?" inquired the man.

"I'm not going to look a gift seahorse in the mouth." noted Pearl.

Lachell left shortly afterwards.

"Make sure to do your job now...or you'll be suffering the punishment!" exclaimed the man.

"The punishment? That doesn't sound good..." answered the mermaid.

Oyster began to shiver.

Apparently, it was in her best interest to do her job right.

"I guess I'll start with the mail..." spoke Pearl.

Unfortunately, she realized that she had a problem as soon as she tried to get out of bed.

"Whoa!" exclaimed the mermaid.

"Are you OK?" asked Oyster.

"Yeah, I think so. Thanks for asking." answered the mermaid.

Unfortunately, due to the fact that she had a fish tail for legs, it appeared that she wasn't able to walk.

It looked like she was going to have to crawl.

Immediately, she began to crawl to the mail box.

"Well, I guess I'll get to the mail box eventually..." noted Pearl.

Much to her surprise, Oyster wanted to crawl to the mail box as well.

"Huh?" asked the mermaid.

"Let's race to the mail box!" exclaimed the boy.

"Um...sure." answered Pearl.

Thankfully, the mail box wasn't far away.

Oddly enough, she actually managed to win the race even though she was not used to crawling on the floor.

"Yay! You won!" exclaimed Oyster.

"Yes, I did." answered Pearl as she tried to stand up.

Immediately, she picked up the mail.

"Let's see now..." spoke the mermaid as she began to read through it.

As it turned out, there was a merfolk sale from the human auction house.

She began to frown.

"What's the matter?" inquired Oyster.

"They're selling more merfolk...just like me." answered Pearl.

"Oh no!" exclaimed the teenage boy.

"I'm starting to wonder if I'm one of the lucky ones..." spoke the mermaid.

Oyster began to cry.

"It's OK...I think I can live through this." said Pearl.

"You think so?" asked the boy.

Pearl nodded.

Oyster stopped crying.

Suddenly, she noticed something that concerned her.

"They're having a human sale too..." noted Pearl.

"What?!" exclaimed Oyster.

Immediately, he began to hug her bare stomach tightly, much to her surprise.

"Aah! Help me!" bellowed the teenage boy.

Pearl hugged him in return in order to comfort him.

"Don't worry...just stay away from scary-looking Fishmen and you should be fine...and while you're at it don't go on any dumb dares." said the mermaid.

"I actually got dared to jump off a cliff...so I did!" exclaimed Oyster.

Pearl raised an eyebrow.

"Did something hit you on the head?" asked Pearl.

"Yes...I hit my head on a rock on my way down..." said the teenage boy.

"That explains a lot..." answered the mermaid.

She was starting to feel sorry for Oyster.

Immediately, she began to crawl towards his father, carrying his mail in her mouth...which Oyster quickly noticed.

"The race is over! You don't have to crawl anymore!" exclaimed the teenage boy.

"About that...I'm afraid that I can't walk." answered Pearl.

"How come?" inquired Oyster.

Pearl pointed to her fish tail.

"I can swim pretty well...but I don't have legs." explained the mermaid.

Curious, Oyster began touching her tail fins, causing her to giggle.

"Why are you tickling me?" asked Pearl.

"These are so cool! I wish I had these!" exclaimed Oyster.

Once again, she began to giggle.

Personally she wondered why she was so ticklish. At least she enjoyed it a bit.

"Is there any way you can turn me into a merman?" inquired the teenage boy, letting go of her fins.

"Sorry, I can't." answered Pearl.

"Awww!" exclaimed Oyster.

"It's OK...you'd have a bounty on your head the size of the Atlantic Ocean at the Human Auction House anyway..." noted the mermaid.

"Oh yeah..." answered the teenage boy.

Suddenly, he picked Pearl up and started carrying her bridal style.

"Hmm? Why are you picking me up?" asked the mermaid.

"I'm taking you around the house so you don't have to crawl!" exclaimed Oyster.

"Um...thanks." answered Pearl, who began to blush again.

Immediately, he carried Pearl towards his father, who was now carrying the mail in her hands rather than her mouth.

"That's better...though admittedly the mail did taste a bit like chicken..." noted the mermaid.

Oyster then took her to the kitchen so that she could wash the dishes.

"Again, I appreciate your help." said Pearl.

Immediately, she began to wash the dishes...which due to her hydrokinesis she was able to get done in no time flat.

"Wow! You rock at this!" exclaimed Oyster.

"Thank you." spoke the mermaid. At least her services were appreciated by somebody...even if she was technically a slave.

She then went to mow the lawn...only to find out that she had a problem.

"Um...I don't think I can do this without legs." answered Pearl.

"I'll take care of it!" exclaimed Oyster.

"Really? You will?" asked the mermaid.

Immediately, he began to mow the lawn...and he was done with it in just a few minutes.

"Nice job." said Pearl.

"Thank you!" exclaimed the boy.

Next up on the list was to mop the floor.

Once again, she was having trouble.

"How I wish I could walk..." thought the teenage mermaid.

Fortunately, Oyster was ready to help again.

"Thanks..." said Pearl.

Of course, the last job on the list was to clean the windows.

Fortunately, she didn't have to walk for that job...and her hydrokinesis got the job done quickly.

"Well, alright...now to do the other window and-"

However, as it turned out, Oyster had beat her to the punch.

"We're all done here!" exclaimed the teenage boy.

"I have to admit...you're a real saint." noted Pearl.

"That's what everyone tells me!" bellowed Oyster.

"Yeah...I can see why." nodded the mermaid.

Suddenly, she felt the urge to use the restroom.

"Do you know where the bathroom is?" inquired the mermaid.

Oyster immediately took her to the bathroom.

"Thanks." spoke Pearl.

"Er...how does a mermaid use the restroom?" asked Oyster.

Pearl's cheeks turned red.

"Er, um...well, you see..." answered the mermaid.

"Never mind! I don't want to know!" exclaimed the teenage boy.

Pearl let out a sigh of relief.

Immediately, she opened the door and closed it behind her.

_A few minutes later..._

"That's better." said Pearl.

Curious, she decided to check the mirror so that she could look at her new strapless bikini.

"Wow! Oyster was right...I do look beautiful in this!" exclaimed the mermaid.

She had to admit, she was rather embarrased at first...but now, she thought it looked perfect on her.

"I've got to show this to my friends when I went home." spoke Pearl.

She then noticed the GPS belt was still around her waist.

"Or if I get home..." sighed the mermaid.

Immediately, she decided to go see Oyster again. He was in his room staring at the ceiling.

"Hi there!" exclaimed the teenage boy.

"Hey there." answered the teenage mermaid.

Suddenly, he pulled out a shirt.

"Hmm?" inquired Pearl.

He handed it to the mermaid.

"What's this?" inquired the slave.

"Now you won't have to crawl around our house in a strapless bikini anymore!" exclaimed her slavedriver's son.

"Thanks...but I've already come to terms with it." answered Pearl.

"How come?" asked Oyster.

"Well, you were right...it really does look good on me." spoke the mermaid.

"But you're showing off so much skin!" exclaimed the teenage boy.

"Well, yes...but my race happen to be perpetual swimmers...so..." answered Pearl.

"Good point..." nodded Oyster.

"Still, I am stuck wearing this GPS belt..." noted the teenage girl.

"Wasn't it originally meant to be a slave collar?" inquired the teenage boy.

"Yes...but they decided to use it as a belt as it was too big for me otherwise..." explained Pearl.

"Oh yeah..." nodded Oyster.

"Your father sure has a taste for girls, doesn't he?" inquired the teenage girl.

"Yeah...I saw him looking at a swimsuit magazine once..." answered the teenage boy.

"I see..." answered Pearl.

"Maybe that's why he wanted a mermaid..." noted Oyster.

"Maybe..." nodded the mermaid.

"So, you want go to the ocean? I would imagine that you want to...since you're a mermaid and all...right?" inquired the teenage boy.

Pearl's eyes widened.

"Did you say...the ocean?" asked the mermaid.

"Yeah...it actually isn't too far from our house." answered Oyster.

Sure enough, she could see it out in the distance.

"Hmm...I have to question what your father was thinking when he decided to imprison me here..." noted Pearl.

"How come?" inquired the teenage boy.

Pearl sweatdropped.

Immediately, she began to leave the house.

"Where are you going?" asked Oyster.

"Goodbye, Oyster! I'll never forget you!" exclaimed Pearl.

"What?!" bellowed the teenage boy.

Immediately, she began to crawl towards the ocean...which of course was her ticket home.

Oyster sighed. They had only just met.

He went to his room and began to lie down.

"I'm going to miss her..." said the teenage boy.

A tear began to leave his eye.

"How I wish she would come back..." noted Oyster.

_A few minutes later..._

Pearl was feeling rather excited. Pretty soon she was going to be home free. She was so happy that she could sing a song...maybe Under The Sea? That would be an awfully fitting song considering what she had been through.

She could not wait to see her friends again. Granted, her friends had gotten her into this mess...but she still wanted to see them anyway. Friends were friends, right?

Of course, she was going to miss Oyster...but she was sure that he would understand. He wanted her to be happy, right?

Maybe she could come back and visit him one day. Then again, she would have to avoid his father so that she wouldn't get caught...but that was a risk that she was willing to take.

However, she couldn't help but shake the feeling that she was forgetting something.

"What was it that I'm forgetting? I think it was something important..." questioned Pearl.

"Gotcha!" exclaimed Lassell Challops, grabbing her by her tail fins.

"Oh right...my GPS belt." spoke the mermaid.

"Did you really think that it would be that easy to get away?" inquired the man.

"You're right, I should have known that it was going to be too easy." answered Pearl.

"You're coming back with me!" bellowed the slavedriver.

"At least I'll get to see Oyster again." thought the mermaid.

Of course, since he was holding her by the tail fins, she couldn't help but giggle.

Unfortunately, he thought she was laughing about something else.

"What's that? Are you laughing at your own slavedriver?! Do you think I'm a clownfish?!" bellowed Lassell Challops.

Pearl sweatdropped. Apparently, he did not realize that she was ticklish.

She was about to explain that to him...but already he had jumped to conclusions.

"Well then...I guess it's time for me to teach you a lesson in respect!" exclaimed the man.

Pearl gulped.

Immediately, he began to drag her back to his house.

"This isn't going to be fun..." murmured the mermaid.

"Darn right!" exclaimed the man.

_A few minutes later..._

"Please! Just let me see her one more time! That's all I ask!" bellowed Oyster.

Suddenly, Oyster's father burst into his room carrying Pearl.

"Oh my gosh! My wish came true!" exclaimed the teenage boy.

"What wish?" inquired the mermaid.

"I, um...wished you would come back." said Oyster.

Pearl sweatdropped.

"I'm so sorry..." apologized the teenage boy.

"It's OK...I don't mind your company...though I would have liked my freedom." acknowledged the teenage girl.

"She had the audacity to laugh at me!" exclaimed Lachell Scallops.

"You laughed at his face?" asked Oyster.

"I wasn't! I was just ticklish!" exclaimed Pearl.

"Oh yeah..." acknowledged the teenage boy, recalling how she had giggled when he had touched her fins.

"You liar!" bellowed the slavedriver.

Pearl sighed. Apparently, Oyster's father didn't trust her.

"Now it's time for your punishment!" exclaimed the father.

"Are you going to use a whip?" asked the teenage mermaid.

"That's too good for you!" bellowed Lachell Challops.

Pearl's jaw dropped in shock.

"It's time for you to give you the ultimate punishment!" exclaimed the man.

Pearl's blood ran cold.

"Behold! The Feather Of Retribution!" shouted Oyster's father.

Immediately, he pulled out a rather large feather.

Pearl's pulse settled, and she raised an eyebrow.

"The Feather Of Retribution?" asked the mermaid.

Oyster gasped in shock.

"No! Not the Feather Of Retribution!" exclaimed the teenage boy.

"She must suffer the consequences!" bellowed Lachell Challops.

Immediately, he began to use the Feather Of Retribution to tickle Pearl's bare midriff.

"Hahahahahaha!" laughed the mermaid.

"I can't watch!" exclaimed Oyster, covering his eyes.

Lachell Challops continued to tickle Pearl.

"Heeheeheeheehee!" giggled the teenager.

Oyster was still covering his eyes, and was shivering in revulsion.

"Hohohohohohoho! Merry Christmas! Wait, what?" inquired Pearl.

Oyster opened one of his eyes in curiousity...and wished he hadn't.

Immediately, he fainted on the spot.

Eventually, Lachell Challops put away the Feather Of Retribution.

"Are you going to be a good girl this time?" inquired the man.

"Yes, sir." nodded Pearl with a smile on her face.

"Good. I'm going grocery shopping." spoke Lachell.

Immediately, he left the room to go grocery shopping.

"Wait...if he's not home, then that means I have the opportunity to..."

Lachell quickly shut the door behind him and locked it.

"...escape." sighed Pearl.

Shortly afterwards, she found herself being hugged by Oyster.

"Huh?" asked the mermaid.

"Oh thank goodness you're alright! I was worried that you were going to die!" exclaimed the teenage boy.

"Don't worry, I'm fine. It was actually kind of fun..." answered the mermaid.

"You are so strong. I salute you." noted Oyster.

"Really, it was nothing!" exclaimed Pearl.

"But when he uses the Feather Of Retribution on me...I break down in seconds!" bellowed the teenage boy.

"How often does he use it on you?" asked the mermaid.

"Only when I've been really bad..." explained Oyster.

"Like...when?" inquired Pearl.

"Like the time I ate five of his briefs..." answered the teenage boy.

"You ate his briefs?" asked the teenage girl.

Oyster began to cry.

"They tasted like chicken wings!" bellowed the boy.

"There there...tell me all about it." answered Pearl, patting him on the back.

"Well, I bet they would have gone great with barbecue sauce." noted Oyster.

"You actually make me want to try eating his briefs right about now...they sound like a pretty good alternative to tofu." acknowledged the teenage girl.

"Don't eat them! You'll end up getting tortured! Please, I beg you!" bellowed the teenage boy.

"OK OK. I won't. Happy?" asked Pearl.

Oyster hugged her in relief.

"You sure are a hugger." acknowledged the teenage girl.

"Sorry, sorry! I'll respect your boundaries!" exclaimed the teenage boy.

"No no no. It's fine. You can hug me all you want. It makes me feel special." answered Pearl.

"It makes me feel special too..." noted Oyster.

Immediately, he went to the door so that he could go watch TV.

"Um, Oyster..." said Pearl.

"What?" asked Oyster as he reached for the doorknob.

He then quickly realized that he had a problem.

"The door! It's locked! Oh no!" bellowed Oyster.

Unfortunately, it appeared that Lachell Scallop had accidentally locked his son in his room along with Pearl in his efforts to make sure that she didn't flee for the hills.

"Noooo! We're going to die of starvation!" exclaimed the teenage boy.

"Die of starvation?" inquired Pearl.

"Don't eat me!" bellowed Oyster, cowering in fear.

Pearl sighed. This was going to be a long day.

_So, how did you enjoy this chapter? Did you think it was better than the first? Did you think it was worse? Let me know._

_See you!_


	3. Chapter 3: A New Bed

Enslaved

_In this chapter, Pearl is going to get a new bed...which Oyster will helpfully provide. Isn't that nice of him?_

**Chapter 3: A New Bed**

Pearl's stomach began to grumble. She hadn't had anything to eat ever since she had become a slave.

"I'm famished..." thought the girl.

"Don't eat me! Please! I'll do anything!" exclaimed Oyster.

"Don't worry, Oyster. I'm not going to eat you. You're my buddy." answered Pearl.

Oyster let out a sigh of relief. That's what friends were for, right?

Immediately, he handed Pearl some chocolate bars.

"Huh? What are these?" inquired the teenage girl.

"You haven't had chocolate before?" asked Oyster.

"I don't think we have chocolate back where I come from..." answered Pearl.

"Really? That's too bad." said the teenage boy.

"We do have a lot of seaweed though...it comes in many different flavors." noted the teenage girl.

"Interesting..." spoke Oyster.

Curious, Pearl decided to take a bite out of a chocolate bar to see if she enjoyed it.

Sure enough, she did. In fact, she began to eat them ravenously.

"Oh my gosh! I just can't get enough!" exclaimed Pearl.

"Hey! Save some for me!" bellowed Oyster.

"Alright, you can have half and I'll have half..." spoke the teenage girl.

Oyster took his time...while Pearl ate the chocolate bars in five seconds flat.

"Man, I've got to stop eating like this...I'm going to get fat." answered the mermaid.

"Oh no! I'm making you morbidly obese!" exclaimed Oyster.

"Don't worry...I'm sure my metabolism can handle it." spoke Pearl.

Oyster let out a sigh of relief.

"I was only joking." spoke the mermaid.

"You've got so much chocolate on your face..." said the teenage boy.

"What? Oh dear." answered Pearl.

Oyster wiped the chocolate off of her face.

"Thanks." spoke the mermaid.

"When do you think my father will be back?" asked Oyster.

Pearl shrugged.

"I want to get out of here..." said the teenage boy.

"Me too..." agreed the mermaid.

"What should we do to pass the time?" inquired Oyster.

"Hmm..." thought Pearl.

Curious, she began to search the room for something that they could do.

"Funny, I was under the impression that he would be back by now..." noted the mermaid.

_Meanwhile..._

"Darn it! Why is this line taking so long?!" exclaimed Lachell Scallop.

Unfortunately, there were a lot of people at the market today.

"Grrr!" bellowed the man.

Things just weren't looking good for him today.

"Why does this market have to be so packed?" inquired the man.

Personally he wished that they would all just go away.

Not only that, but his grocery cart had lost one of his wheels.

He wanted to tell one of the employees about it...but he didn't want to lose his place in line.

"Hurry up!" exclaimed Lachell Scallop.

"Sorry." apologized the man next to him.

"I've got to get back to my son..." thought the man.

Now that he thought of it...didn't he lock him in the room with Pearl?

"I hope he's doing OK. I remember what happened the last time I didn't keep an eye on him." noted Lachell Scallop.

_"Hi there, Mr. Fishman! How are you doing today!" exclaimed Oyster._

_"I'm going to eat you for supper!" bellowed "Mr. Fishman"._

_"Aah!" screamed the teenage boy._

_Immediately, he began to run away from Mr. Fishman, who was now carrying a knife and a fork._

_Fortunately, his father was there to help him._

_"Help me! There's a monster!" exclaimed Oyster._

_Lachell Scallop immediately pulled out a shotgun._

_"Stand back! I'm warning you!" bellowed the man._

_"You're no fun." answered Mr. Fishman, walking away looking rather dejected._

_Oyster let out a sigh of relief._

_"We need to move away from Fishman Island..." noted Lachell Scallop._

_Oyster nodded._

"Thank goodness I didn't enslave a fishman..." acknowledged Oyster's father.

_At Oyster's house..._

"How ironic...I'm a mermaid playing go fish." noted Pearl.

"Isn't irony fun?" asked Oyster.

"I guess it is." answered the mermaid.

"Got any threes?" inquired the teenage boy.

"You already asked me that." said Pearl.

"Got any fours?" asked Oyster.

"Go fish...just don't fish for me. I don't want worms in my mouth." answered the teenage girl.

"Right, of course." nodded the teenage boy as he picked up some cards.

"You got any sixes?" asked Pearl.

"I've got loads!" exclaimed Oyster.

"Wow...I must be really lucky." answered the mermaid.

"You betcha!" bellowed the teenage boy.

Suffice to say, Pearl ended up winning the game, and they put the cards away.

Oyster gave her a high five.

"Good game. What should we do next?" inquired the teenage boy.

"Maybe we could read a book?" asked Pearl.

Sure enough, Oyster appeared to have several books in his room.

"I know! How about Moby Dick? That seems interesting enough." noted the mermaid.

"Funny, I was under the impression that since you were a slave that you couldn't read..." acknowledged Oyster.

"Not a bad assumption...but I can read just fine." answered Pearl.

"What kind of books do you read?" inquired the teenage boy.

"Mainly adventure ones." spoke the teenage mermaid.

"Should we read the book together? Or should one of us read it out loud?" asked Oyster.

"I guess I'll read it out loud." answered Pearl.

Oyster immediately sat on the floor.

_Around thirty minutes later..._

"Sheesh! Captain Ahab is one deranged maniac!" exclaimed Oyster.

"Yeah...there are some people like that that want to sell mermaids like me to the human auction house..." answered Pearl.

Immediately, she began to sigh.

"What's the matter?" asked the teenage boy.

"Nothing, nothing." spoke Pearl.

At that very moment, Lachell Challop unlocked the door.

"I'm back!" exclaimed the man.

"Um, hey." answered the mermaid.

Immediately, he began to put the groceries away.

"Can I have something to eat?" asked Pearl.

Lachell handed her some vegetables.

"Thanks..." said the mermaid as she began to put some in her mouth.

Oddly enough, Oyster happened to be eating some vegetables as well.

"Since when were you a vegan?" asked Lachell Challop.

"Since I met Pearl." answered the teenage boy.

Pearl began to smile.

Fortunately, she did not have to put away the groceries...Oyster already beat her to the punch.

"That was nice..." noted the mermaid.

Curious, she headed towards the family room to see what Lachell Scallop was watching on the TV.

As it turned out, he was watching...

...Pirates of the Carribean.

"Oh, would you look at that." answered Pearl.

"Cutler Beckett, you suck!" bellowed Lachell Scallop.

"I bet he does..." murmured the teenage mermaid.

Oddly enough, he didn't seem to notice her.

Immediately, she began to lie down on the couch.

"Is this some sort of marathon?" asked Pearl.

Apparently, it was.

Sure enough, the fourth film began to play...which featured a mermaid being captured by Blackbeard and his crew.

"Deja vu..." murmured the mermaid.

Eventually, the marathon was over, and Lachell Challop turned off the TV.

"Off to bed I go." said the man.

Immediately, he went to his bedroom to get to sleep.

Curious, Pearl noticed that it was getting late. Maybe it was time for her to go to bed too.

Once again, she began to crawl around the house.

"This is actually kind of fun...it's still fifteen years before my tails split though..." answered the mermaid.

However, much to her surprise, Oyster was sleeping in her hammock.

"Hmm?" asked Pearl.

Curious, she gently woke him up.

"Huh?" asked Oyster.

"Erm...you're using my hammock." answered the teenage mermaid.

"Sorry, sorry! I just liked it better than my own bed, that's all!" apologized the teenage boy.

"It's OK...I can sleep on the floor." said Pearl.

"No no no no! You can use my bed!" exclaimed Oyster.

"Wait, what?" asked the mermaid.

"It's only fair." answered the teenage boy.

"OK then..." said Pearl, crawling towards Oyster's bed.

Immediately, she placed her head on the pillow and put the blanket right next to her bare shoulders.

"Dang this feels good!" exclaimed the teenage mermaid.

"Yeah...you probably needed that blanket more than I did." acknowledged Oyster.

"Hmm? Oh that's right...my slave outfit. Heh heh." answered Pearl.

"You sure you don't want a shirt? I've got one right here." answered the teenage boy.

Immediately, he pulled out a shirt saying "I Love Mermaids!".

"That's awfully sweet of you...but I've only kissed another mermaid once." answered Pearl.

Oyster sweatdropped.

"Don't worry...I'm pretty used to the cold...though this blanket feels like heaven." noted the mermaid.

"Glad you like it!" exclaimed the teenage boy.

Immediately, he went to turn off the lights.

He then went back to his new hammock a few minutes later.

Pearl then began to dream about the ocean.

"Look at all those waves..." murmured the mermaid.

_The next day..._

Pearl woke up with a yawn, ready to start the new day.

Likewise, Oyster was waking up as well.

"So...is your father going to give me a list of things to do today?" inquired the mermaid.

"Maybe..." agreed the teenage boy.

Sure enough, Lachell Challop entered the room,.

Suddenly, he gasped in surprise.

"Is something the matter?" asked Pearl.

Immediately, he became very angry.

He walked up to the mermaid and began to scowl.

"Did I something wrong?" inquired the mermaid.

"You stole my son's bed! You pushed him out, didn't you?!" exclaimed Lachell Scallop.

"What? No, I didn't!" bellowed Pearl.

"Lying to me again, are we? I guess the Feather Of Retribution wasn't enough for you!" shouted the man.

"Why don't you trust me..." murmured the mermaid.

Immediately, he wrapped up Pearl in the blanket she was using. All of a sudden, she found herself unable to move anything below the shoulder.

"Well, isn't this cozy?" questioned Pearl.

"Have fun being tied up! I'm going to the tavern to get myself some drinks!" exclaimed Oyster's father.

Immediately, he left Pearl alone with Oyster once again.

Curious, she looked down at the blanket holding her prisoner.

"Well...it looks I'm on a roll." noted the mermaid.

Sometimes she cracked herself up.

"Don't worry! I'll get you out!" exclaimed Oyster.

"Trying to be my hero, are we?" asked the mermaid.

Immediately, Oyster started trying to break her free.

Unfortunately, he was unable to free Pearl...at all.

"Well, I'll give you an A for an effort...I'd applaud you if my hands weren't stuck." said the mermaid.

"What are we going to do?" asked the teenage boy.

"Don't worry about it. This blanket feels amazing. I could use it all day." answered Pearl.

"Aren't you the optimist." said Oyster.

"Well, my friends told me that I usually had a smile on my face..." noted the mermaid.

"I would imagine so..." spoke the teenage boy.

Curious, she wondered what her chores were going to be today.

"I wonder what he wants me to do..." noted the mermaid.

Oyster grabbed the list his father had dropped on the floor and showed it to Pearl.

"Let's see now...wash the dishes again...wash the car...water the flowers...and clean up the bathroom...well, as much as I would like to do those things, I'm a bit tied up right about now." answered the mermaid.

"Yeah..." nodded Oyster.

"So, is there anything you want to do while your father's gone?" asked Pearl.

"Maybe watch TV?" inquired the teenage boy.

"That does sound good..." answered the mermaid.

Immediately, Oyster picked up Pearl and took him to the family room to watch the television.

He then changed the channel to a show that he liked to watch.

"Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?" asked a singing pirate on TV.

"Can you change the channel?" inquired Pearl.

"But it's Spongebob!" exclaimed Oyster.

"I met the guy once. He tried to beat me to death with a spatula and serve me as a Krabby Patty...a thousand of them, to be precise. I managed to escape...after about an hour of struggling against knotted hemp." explained the mermaid.

"That fiend!" bellowed the teenage boy as he changed the channel.

"I know...he was a complete and utter psychopath. Then again, so was his employer. He'll do anything for money these days." acknowledged the mermaid.

This time, he was watching a movie about a mermaid that wanted to become a human.

"That's better." said the teenage girl.

"This mermaid reminds me of you..." noted Oyster.

"Well, we do wear a similar outfit nowadays..." acknowledged the teenage mermaid.

"You sure do." answered the teenage boy.

"I'm a bit younger than her though." noted Pearl.

"Oh yeah...you're fifteen and she's sixteen." spoke the teenage boy.

"Yeah..." answered the teenage girl.

Of course, the protagonist inevitably decided to make a deal with an evil sea witch so that she could be human.

"Funny...I didn't have to make a deal with a sea witch in order to meet you." noted Pearl.

"Yeah...by the way, how can you breathe underwater and above it at the same time?" inquired Oyster.

"I've got a pair of gills in my hips..." said the teenage mermaid.

"You have gills in your hips?" asked the teenage boy.

"I know...merfolk tend to confuse people." noted Pearl.

"Where are your lungs then?" inquired Oyster.

"The same place as a human." spoke the teenage mermaid.

"Fair enough." answered the teenage boy.

Eventually, the movie ended, and Oyster decided to turn off the TV.

"So, are you done watching TV?" asked Pearl.

"Yeah." answered the teenage boy.

"Alright then. Can you take me back to bed? I want to rest my eyes..." said the teenage mermaid.

"Sure!" exclaimed Oyster.

Immediately, he took back Pearl to the bed that was once his.

"Thank you." said Pearl as she laid her head across the pillow.

"Let me know if you need anything!" exclaimed the teenage boy.

"I'm fine, thanks." answered the mermaid.

Oyster immediately left the room, leaving Pearl to her own devices.

"I wonder how his father's doing..." thought the teenage girl.

_Meanwhile..._

Unsurprisingly, Lachell Scallop was drinking loads of beer. Apparently, it had never occurred to him that he should try drinking in moderation.

Of course, the bouncer immediately noticed, and decided that he needed to take action.

"Easy there, buddy! Wouldn't want you to hurt yourself!" exclaimed the man.

"You're a bouncer, huh? Let's see how you bounce!" bellowed Lachell Scallop.

"What the-" said the tavern employee.

Immediately, he picked up the bouncer and began to bounce him around like a basketball.

"Security!" bellowed the unfortunate man.

Two security guards came and grabbed Lachell Scallop by the arms.

They then threw him out of the tavern.

"I didn't know that I could fly!" exclaimed the drunk man as he collapsed on the floor.

He was going to have a killer headache once the alcohol left his body.

"How many times has this happened?" asked the bouncer.

"About the third time this week." answered one of the security guards.

"Sheesh." answered the man.

_At Oyster's house..._

"Ah...that was a good nap." said Pearl as she slowly woke up.

Suddenly, she gasped in shock.

There was Oyster...in the exact same situation she was in.

"Um, hi?" asked Pearl.

"Hey there...I tried to get you out of there again...and let's face it, something went wrong." spoke the teenage boy.

"You're persistent, aren't you?" inquired the mermaid.

"Yeah..." answered Oyster.

"Well, I admire you for trying..." said Pearl.

"What are we going to do now though?" asked the teenage boy.

"I don't know...talk about our lives?" questioned the mermaid.

"Should I go first?" asked Oyster.

"Well, I happen to live underneath the ocean...in a small house to be precise..." said Pearl.

"I see..." answered the teenage boy.

"It's a rather nice place...though admittedly it gets a bit lonely there." noted the mermaid.

"OK then..." answered Oyster.

"Do you want to talk about yours now?" asked Pearl.

"Well...when I was five...my mother died." said the teenage boy.

"What?!" exclaimed the mermaid.

"I know...my faster was devastated." answered Oyster.

"I'm so sorry...how did she die?" asked Pearl.

"Well..." said the teenage boy.

_"Using this raft is so nice." said Oyster's mother._

_Sure enough, she was using a small raft to get around the ocean._

_"Nothing can possibly go wrong..." spoke the woman._

_At that very moment, a man-eating shark appeared._

_"Never mind..." said Oyster's mother._

"I'm so sorry for your loss." spoke Pearl.

"It's OK...I don't remember it too well. My father explained it to me." answered Oyster.

"I'd give you a hug if my arms weren't pinned to my sides. So I'll nuzzle you instead." answered the mermaid.

Immediately, she rubbed her nose against Oyster's face, causing him to giggle.

"Anything else you want to tell me about your old life?" asked the teenage boy.

"Well, it was usually pretty peaceful..." answered Pearl.

"That's nice." spoke Oyster.

"Then again I happened to live in a rather quiet town..." noted the teenage mermaid.

"If you lived in a quiet town, then how'd you get caught by humans?" asked the teenage boy.

"I went on a dare..." answered Pearl.

"Ah..." spoke Oyster.

"I'm never accepting a dare like that again." said the teenage mermaid.

"Right..." answered the teenage boy.

"I wonder what my friends were thinking..." answered Pearl.

"Your friends?" asked Oyster.

"Yes, my friends...they got me into this mess." explained the mermaid.

"Sorry to hear that." sympathized the teenage boy.

"Of course, they're probably feeling guilty about it now...I'm actually starting to miss them..." spoke Pearl.

Oyster frowned.

"It's OK...don't worry about it...I'm sure that I'll see them again eventually...hopefully not at the human auction house..." noted the mermaid.

"Yeah...hopefully not the human auction house...that place rots." answered the teenage boy.

"Much agreed." nodded Pearl.

"So...anything else you want to do?" asked Oyster.

"Just try to relax, I guess." answered the mermaid.

Immediately, the two of them began to relax.

"So, when do you think your father will be back?" asked Pearl.

"He does take his time at the tavern..." noted Oyster.

"I guess we'll just have to wait for him to rescue us...I'm going to rest my eyes again." answered the mermaid.

"OK! Me too!" exclaimed Oyster.

Immediately, the two of them began to rest their eyes.

It had been a long morning...

...yet also a somewhat enjoyable one.

_Oh dear! It looks like Oyster and Pearl have gotten themselves into a rather interesting situation...hopefully Oyster's father will undo what he started._

_Feel free to read and review!_


	4. Chapter 4: A Day At The Aquarium

Enslaved

_In this chapter...well, Pearl and Oyster are going to visit the aquarium. They're going to visit a restaurant afterwards...In the process they're going to meet another slave...who happens to be a fishman._

_Isn't that nice?_

**Chapter 4: A Day At The Aquarium**

After leaving (or should we say, getting kicked out of) the tavern, Lachell Scallop arrived back home.

"Right...I guess it's time to untie the mermaid now..." thought Oyster's father.

Immediately, he entered his son's bedroom...

...and gasped in shock.

There was his son, tied up in the same exact blanket Pearl was.

Oddly, neither of them seemed to mind.

"Hi there!" exclaimed Oyster.

"How are you doing?" asked Pearl.

"What happened?!" bellowed Lachell Scallop.

Immediately, he untied Pearl and Oyster, who began to stretch out their arms.

"I've got to stop leaving you alone..." noted Oyster's father.

"Yeah..." nodded Oyster.

Once again, Pearl did her chores. This time, she actually did so with a smile.

"All done!" exclaimed the mermaid.

"That was fast..." said Lachell Scallop.

She then handed him his remote.

"Thank you." spoke the obese man.

Oddly enough, he actually hadn't asked Pearl to do that...but she did it anyway.

She then crawled towards Oyster's room a few minutes later. He was currently lying on her former hammock.

Oddly enough, he seemed rather excited about something.

"What are you so happy about today?" asked Pearl.

"My father's taking me to an aquarium!" exclaimed Oyster.

"An aquarium?" inquired the mermaid.

"Yeah...we're going to look all the fishes..." answered the teenage boy.

"That...actually sounds like my cup of freshwater..." noted Pearl.

"Hmm..." thought Oyster.

Immediately, he left the room to go talk to his father.

"Where is he going?" asked Pearl.

He came back a few minutes later. He seemed more excited than ever.

"Why are you so happy?" asked the mermaid.

"My father said that you could come!" exclaimed Oyster.

"What? He did?" inquired Pearl.

"I just have to keep an eye on you..." said the teenage boy.

"Alright then..." answered the mermaid.

Immediately, he picked up Pearl and took him to his father's car...which of course they had washed just a few minutes ago.

"It looks good..." thought the mermaid.

Once again, Oyster buckled her in.

"Thanks...but I know how these work now." said Pearl.

"OK." answered the teenage boy.

Lachell Scallop entered the car and began to drive towards the aquarium.

Oddly enough, it wasn't too far from their house.

"Here we are." said the man.

Immediately, Pearl unbuckled herself, and Oyster picked her up so that he could show her around the aquarium.

Sure enough, there were some fish nearby.

Curious, she decided to have a chat with them, much to Oyster's surprise.

"You can talk to them?" he asked curiously.

"Of course I can. I'm a mermaid, after all." answered Pearl.

"Oh, right..." spoke the teenage boy.

"Can we help you?" asked a goldfish.

"We're just here to look around the aquarium, thanks." spoke the mermaid.

"Alright..." nodded a yellow tang.

"It's nice getting to talk to you though." noted Pearl.

"Have you seen my son?" asked a clownfish.

"He's right over there." answered the mermaid, pointing to the other side of the tank.

He appeared to be asleep at the moment.

"So...what's it like being in that tank?" asked Pearl.

"It's fine...though it feels weird suddenly getting thrusted into a new environment..." spoke a pufferfish.

"I'm with you there." answered the mermaid.

At that very moment, one of the fish noticed the belt that she was wearing.

"Why are you wearing a belt? You don't wear pants...or much clothing at all for that matter." questioned a starfish.

"Oh, that...you see, I happen to be a slave." answered Pearl.

Immediately, the fishes gasped in shock.

"You-you're a slave?!" bellowed a rockfish.

"Yes, I am..." answered Pearl.

"That's terrible!" exclaimed a rainbowfish.

"It's OK...it really isn't so bad." answered the mermaid.

"It's not? I heard that they make slaves wear slave collars that explode if they try to flee for the hills..." questioned a seahorse.

"Well, that's true...they just made me wear a GPS belt and went on it with it though..." said Pearl.

"Is that your friend over there?" inquired a surgeonfish.

"Oh, him...that's my friend Oyster...my best friend in fact. Personally I think that he's a sea angel..." explained the mermaid.

"Oh really? Right now he seems to be mocking us..." said a parrotfish.

"Huh?" asked Pearl.

Curious, she looked around, and noticed that Oyster was imitating the fish. She began to giggle.

"Oh don't worry...I'm sure he isn't mocking you. I just think that he's fascinated by how many of you are in that tank, that's all..." said Pearl.

Sure enough, Oyster stopped making faces.

"What do they have to say about me?" asked the teenage boy.

"What do you think of him?" inquired Pearl.

"I think he's an interesting fellow..." said the clownfish's son.

"Yeah, me too." answered the mermaid.

Immediately, Lachell Scallop beckoned for Oyster to keep on going.

Of course, he took Pearl with him.

"I'll see you later." spoke the teenage girl, waving goodbye.

Next up was the sea lion exhibit.

"Oh, would you look at that...they've got mammals here too..." said Pearl.

Unsurprisingly, they were bouncing a ball on their nose.

"Are you two having fun?" asked the mermaid.

The sea lions nodded...though it was a bit frustrating to have to take turns using the ball.

Granted, there were only six of them...but still.

"Good. I'm having a good time too. This aquarium feels like it was made for me." answered Pearl.

"I'm having a great time! I want to come here again!" exclaimed Oyster.

"I bet you are." nodded the mermaid. She was personally inclined to agree.

Next up was the dolphin exhibit.

Oddly enough, they happened to be asleep at the moment. Apparently, not all dolphins were as energetic as people thought they were.

"Awww!" complained Oyster.

"Sorry if you were expecting a show..." comforted Pearl.

"Zzz...where are all the hot dolphin babes...zzz...I'm a lonely dolphin here." murmured one of the dolphins.

"Give me...your phone number..." whispered another dolphin.

"Um..." noted the mermaid.

Personally, she was starting to get the feeling that Lachell Scallop would get on well with these dolphins if he could actually talk to them.

Maybe she could teach him how? Then again, he might not be interested in that sort of thing. He only wanted to talk to attractive females.

Next up was the penguin exhibit.

"Brrr...it's cold!" exclaimed Oyster.

"Really? I don't feel it..." answered Pearl.

"You did say that you could resist the cold pretty well..." noted the teenage boy.

"Oh yeah..." acknowledged the mermaid.

Sure enough, the penguins appeared to be eating fish at the moment, causing Oyster to gasp.

He realized what he had to do...or at least what he thought he had to do.

"Oh my gosh! Cover your eyes, Pearl!" exclaimed the teenage boy.

Immediately, he put his hand over Pearl's eyes.

"Why? What's the matter?" asked the mermaid.

"They're eating fish! It's horrific! Don't look! You'll have a heart attack!" bellowed Oyster.

"I will?" asked the teenage girl.

"Mermaids do have hearts, right?" inquired the teenage boy.

"We sure do." nodded Pearl.

"We need to get out of here!" exclaimed Oyster.

"Oh...about that. Don't worry...that actually doesn't scare me too much..." explained the mermaid.

"But you're a fish!" exclaimed the teenage boy.

"Well, technically I'm half-fish..." noted the human and fish hybrid.

"Are you a cannibal?! Don't eat me! Please! I don't taste good! I promise!" bellowed Oyster.

"What? No no no. I don't eat fish...though my fishmen buddies do." answered Pearl.

"Then why isn't this traumatizing you?" asked the teenage boy.

"Well, fish eat each other all the time...one rockfish told me about the sweet and buttery fish he ate...said that he was going to savor the flavor forever." answered the mermaid.

"Huh? Oh yeah...how could I forget that...but aren't you a vegan?" asked Oyster.

"Well, that's true...but I respect other cultures. You can let go of my eyes now." spoke Pearl.

Immediately, Oyster uncovered Pearl's eyes.

Next up was the piranha exhibit.

Sure enough, they seemed to be rather hungry.

"You're not thinking about eating Oyster, are you?" asked the mermaid.

"We happen to be herbivore piranhas actually..." answered one of the piranhas.

"Oh...never mind then. I also happen to be a vegan." spoke Pearl.

"Oddly enough we just met a fishman not too long ago..." noted another piranha.

"Well, how about that." answered the mermaid.

Their next stop was the shark exhibit.

"Funny, I was expecting these sharks to be bigger..." noted Oyster.

"Well, believe it or not, not all sharks are big. Most of them are actually pretty small..." acknowledged Pearl.

"So, I'll be safe if I go for a swim in saltwater?" asked the teenage boy.

"Most likely..." nodded the mermaid.

"That's a relief...I don't want to end up like my mother...eaten by a ferocious shark that should have never been allowed to roam the oceans...I wonder what his mother has to say about him?" murmured Oyster.

Pearl placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Thank you." said the teenage boy.

"It's the least I could do after what you did for me..." answered Pearl.

"Huh? Oh yeah..." remembered Oyster.

Their last stop for today was at the orca exhibit, where they were doing a water show.

Sure enough, the orca was doing all kinds of crazy stunts. It was some sort of acrobat, it seemed.

"Look at that killer whale go!" exclaimed Oyster.

"You could say that it's killing out there...heh heh." acknowledged Pearl.

"You sure like making puns, don't you?" questioned the orca.

"Well, sometimes I do." spoke the mermaid.

"Very funny." answered the killer whale.

"I know...sometimes the puns don't work too well." noted Pearl.

"I'm with you there." agreed the orca.

Sure enough, the show was over, and the audience immediately left.

"That was awesome!" exclaimed Oyster.

"It sure was." agreed Pearl.

"I'm hungry though..." complained the teenage boy.

"You want to go get something to eat?" asked Lachell Scallop.

Oyster nodded.

"Alright then..." nodded Oyster's father.

Once again, Pearl found herself being lifted off her fins.

This time, she buckled herself in, and Oyster followed suit.

Lachell Scallop then drove them towards a restaurant by the name of "Bumblebee's".

"Bumblebees, eh? I wonder who came up with that name..." questioned Oyster.

"Probably somebody who thought they were a queen..." noted Pearl.

Immediately, they sat down at a table, where a waiter began to look at them.

Oddly enough, he seemed to be staring at Pearl.

"What can I help you three with?" asked the waiter.

"I'd like some caesar salad." answered Pearl.

"I'll have what she's having!" exclaimed Oyster.

"I'll have some chicken wings..." said Lachell Scallop.

"I'll be back in a few minutes." spoke the man.

Shortly afterwards, Oyster's father went to use the restroom.

At that very moment, a nearby fishman decided to talk to them. Judging from the looks of it, he happened to be a great white shark fishman. As such, he had gray skin and sharp-looking teeth. He also happened to have black hair.

Though he was wearing a pair of ripped blue jeans and a pair of sandals, he was not wearing a shirt. Pearl found this to be a bit ironic, as for obvious reasons she never wore pants.

"You happen to be a slave, huh?" asked the fishman.

"Yes, I am. Why do you ask?" inquired Pearl.

"Well, so am I...my name is Sharky. Pleased to meet you." greeted Sharky.

Immediately, he shook hands with Pearl.

"Pleased to meet you too..." answered the mermaid.

Curious, she noticed that there was a pink anklet on his leg.

"Is that anklet designed to keep you from escaping?" asked Pearl.

Sharky nodded.

"Every time I get too far from my slavemistress, I get sprayed with knockout gas..." explained the fishman.

"Oh dear..." murmured the mermaid.

"It makes me look feminine..." complained Sharky.

"I'm with you there. I have to wear a belt that makes me look masculine...it's got a GPS device on it that my slavemaster can use to track me down if I try to escape...then again, considering that I can't walk, I wasn't really in a position to escape to begin with..." noted Pearl.

"So, how did you get into this mess?" inquired the great white fishman.

"A really dumb dare that my friends managed to talk me into regardless. I've got to stop succumbing to pressure by my peers...you?" asked the mermaid.

"Well, let me start from the beginning. Before I ended up becoming a slave, I happened to be a pirate..." narrated Sharky.

"A pirate?" inquired Pearl.

"Mm-hmm. I was part of a Morganeer crew by the name of The Fishman Avengers...we would go and rob the humans of their treasures...looking back it wasn't such a good career." noted the fishman.

"Yeah...if I ever became a pirate I would want to become a Peace Main...they seem peaceful enough, though admittedly they do steal things sometimes too..." acknowledged Pearl.

"Apparently, they noticed my reputation, because I was eventually able to climb my way through the ranks. I even became their captain at the mere age of seventeen...which oddly enough is still my current age." spoke Sharky.

"You did? Sounds like your life was perfect." noted the mermaid.

"For a moment, I thought the same thing. Unfortunately, becoming the captain was the easy part. The hard part was actually keeping my position..." said the former seafarer.

"I'm starting to see how you became a slave..." acknowledged Pearl.

"How quick to catch on. You see, the longer I kept my position, the more my crew started to despise me. They just didn't think that I was doing my job well enough. Now that I think of it, the captain that handed that position to me did seem rather happy about retiring..." continued Sharky.

"I think I know why..." nodded the teenage girl. By the sound of it, the Fishmen Avengers wouldn't be so hesitant to make someone walk the plank.

"Eventually, they declared mutiny against me. They thought I liked humans too much...said that I should be killing humans rather than simply looting them...and as part of the mutiny, they sold me out to a human landlady." said the fishman.

"How cruelly ironic..." acknowledged Pearl. She wouldn't be too surprised if the Fishmen Avengers had a good laugh about it shortly afterwards.

"I've been doing chores for her ever since...she took away my shirt since she said that it would make me hot and sweaty...I think we know the real reason why she didn't want me to wear a shirt though..." concluded Sharky.

"Funny you should mention that...my slavedriver made me wear a strapless bikini." spoke the mermaid.

"Well, would you look at that..." replied Sharky.

"Yeah, aren't we an attractive bunch..." answered Pearl.

Sure enough, everyone else in the restaurant appeared to be looking at them. They were starting to wonder if they were going to have to sign autographs soon.

"To be honest, I don't really mind being a slave nowadays...I actually feel somewhat appreciated...I met a girl that told me that humans are actually trying to save the ocean rather than simply pollute it than I had thought..." explained the fishman.

"That's awfully nice of her." complimented Pearl.

"In fact, she's right over here. Her name is Coral." said Sharky.

Sure enough, the girl that he had been talking about a few minutes later was eating lunch with him. She had short red hair and was wearing glasses. She was dressed in a red shirt and white pants.

Oddly enough, she happened to be eating the same food that Sharky was eating: a steak.

"Funny, she reminds me a bit of my best pal Oyster..." noted Pearl.

Curious, Coral left her seat and went to talk to Oyster.

"Hey there!" exclaimed the teenage girl, shaking Oyster's hand.

"Hi!" bellowed Oyster.

"That mermaid is right...we do appear to have a few similiarities..." acknowledged Coral.

"Well, Sharky does remind me a lot like myself...so go figure." noted Pearl.

Then again, Sharky happened to be a fishman while she was a mermaid...the two races tended to get along well though, though a few fishmen weren't above taking advantage of merfolk.

"I was thinking the same thing." agreed Sharky.

"How old are you?" asked Oyster.

"Sixteen." answered Coral.

"Fourteen here..." replied the teenage boy. "Your mother wouldn't happen to be a widow, would she? My father happens to be a widower..."

"Sorry to hear that, and yes...my mother does happen to be a widow." nodded Coral.

"That's terrible! What happened to your father?" asked Oyster.

"He got roundhouse kicked by Chuck Norris...he died instantly." explained the bespectacled girl.

"Wow." said the teenage boy.

"To his credit...my father did poke him with a stick." noted Coral.

"Wow...I'm not the brightest star on the planet and even I know that was a bad idea!" exclaimed Oyster.

"Yeah...I know. I decided that since I didn't want to make the same mistakes my dad did, I would spend my life reading books so that I can learn. It worked out pretty well for me...I graduated from high school at the age of seven." answered the teenage girl.

Oyster whistled.

"I'm still struggling to pass elementary school..." said the teenage boy.

"Sorry to hear that. Have you been living a sheltered life?" asked Coral.

"Yeah...ever since my mother died my father rarely lets me leave my home...he said that I strayed too far I was going to get myself killed and he would be all alone..." answered Oyster.

"That's what my mother said...that's why I turned to books." spoke the teenage girl.

"I turned to video games!" exclaimed the teenage boy.

"Mm-hmm." nodded Coral.

At that very moment, Coral's mother walked towards them.

"This is my slavedriver...Anemone Diver." said Sharky.

Unsurprisingly, she somewhat resembled Coral, as she also wore glasses and had red hair. Also, she happened to be rather slim.

"Um, hi?" asked Pearl.

"Every time I screw up...she slaps me in the face..." spoke the fishman.

"When I screw up, my slavedriver gives me the Feather Of Retribution...basically he tickles me into submission." explained Pearl.

"I see..." answered Oyster.

At that very moment, Lachell Scallop stopped by. He immediately stared at Anemone, and began to smile.

Sure enough, Anemone noticed him, and began to smile as well.

"Call me sometime." said the slavemistress, handing Lachell a card.

Immediately, she paid her bill and walked out of the restaurant along with Coral and Sharky.

A few minutes later, Pearl, Oyster, and Lachell decided to leave as well.

"It was funny meeting people like that..." noted the mermaid.

"Yeah..." agreed Oyster.

"She gave me her phone number! Yes!" exclaimed Lachell.

"Well, somebody's rather happy..." noticed the teenage boy.

"Yeah, they sure are..." nodded Pearl.

Personally Oyster wondered what this meant for his future.

Was his father...going to get married again?

These thoughts began to fill his head as they headed back home.

_Well, this was a rather interesting chapter, isn't it? Apparently there are people like Pearl out there._

_Don't worry, you aren't going to see any particular slavedrivers in this fanfic...I'm going to try to keep it lighthearted. I do want this to stay PG after all._

_See you!_


End file.
